Composite tapered shingle-machine



R. A. PLUMB. COMPOSITE TAPERED SHINGLE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I2, i919.

Patented J 11116 15, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. A. PLUME.

COMPOSITE TAPERED SHINGL'MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED A-UG.I2, 1919.

Patented June 15, 1920.

3 SHhETS-SHEET 3.

Ihm 3S sa `UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROY ALFRED PLUMB, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO TRUSCON STEEL COMPANY, 0F YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN. v

COMPOSITE TAPERED SHINGLE-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 15, 1920.

Original application led April 28, 1919, Serial No. 293,294. Divided and this application filed August 12, 1919. Serial No. 316,950.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROY A. PLUMB, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Oomposite Tapered Shingle-Machine, o'f which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of tapered shingles from fibrous and cementitious materials, and the present application is a division of my application Serial Number 293,294, filed April 28, 1919, and the general object of this invention is to provide a highly desirable machine for carrying the process set forth in said parent application into effect. The need for shingles of the class referred to has long been recognized by architects and engineers, but no apparatus has to my knowledge been known or available. whereby they might be made rapidly and cheaply, the practical result being that they have never come into use to an appreciable extent. y

In accordancey with my invention, the material (cement, asbestos fiber, etc.) is properly mixed and fed to a movable belt in a puddle which tapers transversely of the line of movement of said belt, that is, in such manner as to form a sheet thin at one edge and thick at the other to correspond tothe taper of the shingles, the consistency of the material preferably being suoli that it will not iiow appreciably, but will, on the other hand, retain its relative position throughout the movement of the belt. While in this conditon a considerable portion of the excess water is extracted by suction means and the sheet isfthen compressed to-expel additional water and render it suilicientlyv compact to permit cutting into proper lengths and removal from the belt to thin metal separators. Theseseparators, each carrying the material for a shingle, are then stacked up so that the thin and thick edges of successive shingleslare alternately arranged and overlap each other from end to end; and when the stack has attained a suiiicieiit thickness it is slowly subjected to extremely heavy pressure between the platens of a suitable made compensatory, the final result .being a cheap, substantially uniform product of pleasing design and smooth finish, and one possessing proper strength, stiffness, toughness and weight.

Considering the operation in its entirety, the material is therefore subjected to the following steps:

(ist) Complete wet mixing, which may be by beaters or other suitable apparatus;

(2nd) Transfer to a movable belt to form a puddle sheet of transversely tapering crosssection;

(Brd) Subjected to suction while on the belt to remove excess moisture, and co1n pressed substantially uniformly from side to side to consolidate the sheet sufliciently to permit its removal;

(4th) Transferred t separator plates and cut into sections or shingles of the desired width;

(5th) Stacked while on the separator plates in alternately reversed arrangement so that the thin edge of a given shingle is opposite or directly above the thick edge of the next lower shingle, whereby a pile of uniform height throughout is secured;

(6th) Slowly subjected to extremely heavy pressure applied vertically to extrude substantially all of the separable water, in which operation any given portion of a given shingle acts complementary to theinimediately adjacent portion of thenext.

To assist in understanding this action, it is pointed out that sheets of this material, when subjected to pressure, do not consolidate in proportion to their thickness, that is, the pressure being uniform over the sheet, a greater proportional consolidation is secured at the thicker edge than at the thinner, so that if a given shingle were subjected to uniform pressure throughout the thin edge would be more compact than the thicker. These varying consolidations of any two ad` jacent shingles are made by steps (5) and (6) to offset or compensate one another so that both shingles are substantially uniformly compact throughout;

(7th) Removed from the separator plates, re-stacked, and left to' harden.

The various steps may be performed by widely differing apparatus, one preferred installation being shown for the purpose of more fully explaining the invention, and in order to `point out certain subordinate features aside from the process itself.

In the drawings, 'Figures 1 and 1a together constitute -a side elevation of a preferred installation for carrying out the invention, parts being omitted. Fig. 2 is a view on line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig.k 3 is an elevation corresponding to Fig. l, parts being broken ,away and in section, one stack being in the press and another being in the course of formation. Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 1s a perspectlve View of the stack support or carriage body. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section on line 6 6 of Fig. 1, showing the belt gripped in the secondary press. Fig. 7 is a View on line 7 7 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic elevational View together showing the relation of the clutch-shifting and suction-breaking means.'

Fig. 9 is a vertical section showing a preferred type of cutter mechanism.

The frame of the machine shown comprises uprights 1 and longitudinal bars 2, 3 and 4, on which are supported end pulleys 5, 6 and intermediate pulleys 7 over which a material carrying belt passes in the direction of the arrow, F ig] 1. The pulley 5 is driven in any suitable way, as by means of the clutch pulley 9, Fig. 8, shafting 9 and gearing 9, and adjacent the pulley 6 the belt passes beneath a hopper 10 to which a thoroughly beaten or mixed puddle of asbestos or other fiber and cement is delivered through the pipe 11. h

rThis hopper has the gage or smoothing plates 13, 14 each of which is independently adjustable at opposite ends toward and from the belt S, Fig. 2, so that the puddle is delivered to the belt in a sheet 15 which tapers transversely of the line of movement in accordance with the desired differencefin thickness between the butts and points of the shingles. The adjusting means shown, which consists of the bolts 16, nuts 17 and springs 13. provides a proper resilient pressure for the smoothing or gaging operation. I 3y providing a driven pulley 2O driven as by means of the belt 21 and the pulley 22 of the gearing 9 and a supporting belt 23 beneath the hopper and gages, the spreading of the wet mass is facilitated.

The loaded belt (which while tight enough to support the puddle is nevertheless of such nature as to allow excess water to be withdrawn through it by suction, being preferably formed of felt or the like), after leaving the spreader device, passes over a suction box or boxes 24 connected by means of the pipes 25 to a suitable suction means, not shown, the application of the suction being broken while the belt is moving, as will be explained later.

The belt thereafter passes by a step-bystep movement between the fixed lower and movable upper platen's 31 and 32 of a reciprocating press, preferably of the hydraulic type, the faces 33-34 of which, Fig. 6, are arranged at an angle to each other substantially equal to the included angle of the shingles. The lower platen is perforated as indicated at 35. to permit the escape of' water.

From the press the belt passes to the pulley 5 where the sheet 15 separates from it by virtue of the stiffness imparted it in the press 31-32, and feeds out onto one of the oiled separator plates 36 which has been placed on a table 37 to receive it. A sufficient length of the sheet to form a shingle of proper width having passed onto the Y plate, it is cut off by any suitable device, such as the cutter 42, Fig. 9, pivoted at 43 and having associated therewith a gripper 44 to which pressure is yieldingly applied through a bar 45 and spring 46 as the cutter lowers about its pivots' 43. One means of actuating the cutter consists in the link 48, the treadle 49 and the counterweight 50.

The plates 36 with the wet shingles 38 thereon are transferred one by one to a suitable carriage body or other support such as the plate 52, Fig. 5, on which they are stacked in completely overlapping alternately reverse order, Fig. 3, so that the thin edge of one shingle is interposed between the thick edges of the adjacent shingles. When the stack has reached the desired height, the support 52 is transferred to a main press 53, as by means of the elevating truck 54 and hauling chain device 55-56, and placed between theplatens 57-58 thereof, where it is slowly subjected to extremely high pressure to consolidate the material and further expel the water, after which the carriage stack is removed from the press, the shingles taken off the separators and restacked in piles for drying.

As indicated above, the movement of the belt 8 is step-by-step, the clutch pulley 9 or its equivalent being manipulated to advance the sheet 15 from time to time into the press 31-32, which is controlled by suitable means, not shown, within reach of the operator.

Simultaneously with the application of power to the belt (which may be controlled by the pedalGO, rocker 61, link 62 and shifter bar 63, pivoted at 64, Fig. 8), the suction in the box 24 is broken by the outward movement, Fig.` 7, 'of the valve 65 away from the air inlet 66. Upon the operator depressing :naaaeei the other pedal 67 of the rocker device, Fig. 8, the clutch pulley is disconnected from the lsghaft 9 and thesuction is re-applied to the olt.

@bviouslyl the actual construction of the machine may be widely different from that shown; l do not, therefore, Wish to be limited except as indicated by the subjoine( claims.

l claim l. A shingle manufacturing machine comprising a movable belt, a hopper for delivering a mixture of wet cementitious and fibrous material to the upper surface of said belt, a gage inclined transversely to the upper surface of the belt for shaping the material into a sheet considerably thicker at one side than at the other, means :tor removing excess water from the sheet by applying a partial vacuum to the lower surface of the latter, and a press having platens inclined to each other by an amount equal to the in,- cluded angle of the desired shingle between which the sheet is pressed for consolidating the material and extruding additional Water.

2. A machine for making shingles of wet plastic material, said machine comprising a belt, means Jfor feeding the plastic material to the belt in a layer or sheet which tapers cross-wise of the belt substantially in accordance with the taper of the desired shingle, and a reciprocating press, the platens ot' which are inclined to each other to correspond to said taper, in which sections of the belt with the sheet thereon are successively compressed and consolidated.

3. A machine for making shingles of wet plastic material comprising a belt, means for driving the belt, means for applying a wet layer of said material thereto, suction means for withdrawing excess moisture from said material through said belt, and means for preventing the belt from being driven by said driving means while the suction is applied thereto.

4. A machine for making shingles of wet plastic material comprising a belt, means for driving the belt, means Jfor applying a wet layer of said material thereto, suction means for withdrawing excess moisture from said material through said belt, and a single means for substantialli7 simultaneously admitting air to the suction means and causing said driving means to drive the belt.

5. A machine for making shingles of wet plastic material comprising a belt, means for driving the belt, means for applying a Wet layer ot' said material thereto, means for extruding Water from said material and for consolidating it to withstand cutting, and a combined gripper and cutter arranged to resiliently grip said sheet and sever an end section therefrom.

ROY ALFRED PLUMB. 

